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Tell Isler I thought he was doing this for lack of help, not lack of
sanity. This does not sound like fun to me. I would not do it at all if
I had to do it that way. Cave diving is bullshit when it needs to be
done like that. I do it for fun, and it is fun with my pals and my team.

Cave diving gear is bullshit - we leave it in the cave and don't care if
we ever see it again - it works years later. We don't use crap, we use
our best stuff as safeties - Scuba Pro MK20's with G250's, without the
slightest remorse. The stuff works indefinetely in the cave. We are
talking life support equipment, not nickelrocket bong money. I have
stuff all over the WKP right now.

Isler told me Stone was an "idiot", and Jean Pierre Impbert confiremd
the translation to me to be sure I got the French correctly. What part
of "idiot" does he think I do not understand?

Too bad he did not particiapate in the Wakulla 2 project - he could have
gone home with one new English word in his vocabulary , "clusterfuck",
and had his ass kicked too, like the rest of them did.

Tell Isler I have news for him - the future of cave diving is not to do
it at all, and if anyone ever finds me dressed up like these guys do for
a dive, I hope they do the right thing - pull out a gun and put me out
of my misery.

Just think what a guy this tough could do if he did not look like
something out of "Honey I Shrunk The Brains" in every picture I have
ever seen. Now I know why the we always see rednecks towing another car
with a rope - redundency.

 
John Simenon wrote:
> 
> I was asked by Olivier Isler to post  the following message:
> 
> My French friend and fellow diver Frédéric Badier has passed on an
> email to me (from G. Irvine, Feb. 20/99) containing  erroneous
> information that I wish to correct.
> 
> An article detailing my last dive at the Doux de Coly as well as my
> thoughts on cave diving was published in DeepTech number 14 (4th
> quarter 98).
> 
> For those who have not have read it, I wish to make the following
> point.
> 
> The WKPP uses a progression technique which I respect entirely even
> though, as the following analysis will show, it is in fact  the exact
> opposite of mine in almost every respect.
> 
> The WKPP operates in 3-diver teams supported by a considerable number
> of safety tanks. This is very understandable:  the rebreather used by
> the teams is the Halcyon, which offers little in terms of redundancy,
> and it is imperative to always be in a position to return on open
> circuit in case of a rebreather malfunction.
> 
> This technique, though very safe, is very constraining. It requires:
> 
> - a great number of divers as support team (the WKPP is the largest
> cave diving operation ever, with more than 80 active members if my
> information is correct);
> - a permanent and easy access to the system being explored;
> - caves sufficiently wide to allow for 3 decompressions taking place
> simultaneously;
> - the possibility to leave equipment in the system without worrying
> about it being damaged or misplaced (e.g. by surges in the current).
> 
> As, during my whole diving career, I never enjoyed the benefit of
> conditions such as the above, I had to seek a technique giving me
> complete autonomy and freeing me of those  constraints.
> 
> My technique relies entirely on the exclusive use of the Semi-Closed
> Circuit rebreather. It involves three completely autonomous and
> interchangeable systems, as, in case of failure,  returning with only
> one functioning systems is mentally unbearable. Carrying with me all
> my needed gas supply eliminates the need for safety tanks and allows
> me to dive solo in total safety.
> 
> The only few tanks staged in the caves for the dive are deco mixes and
> nothing else.
> 
> This is my technique and and my philosophy. I believe it is the
> direction of the future in diving, and, even though it may not conform
> with others' ideologies, I wish that it be respected and not deformed.
> 
> As to my non participation in the Wakulla 2 project, even though I
> don't share many of Bill Stone's ideas, my reasons for not
> participating were entirely private and not the result of any
> personality clash.
> 
> Olivier Isler


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